I take a lot of pride in being a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. I love being in front of soldiers training and leading and setting an example. So often in the Army we come across many NCOs that shouldn’t be allowed to be in front of soldiers. Some of us work so hard to learn as much as we can so that we can progress and pass down knowledge. In my opinion, the system that the Army had was flawed. I’ve heard many people say it’s about who you know when it comes to getting promoted at the centralized level. I personally believe that some NCO’s do what they are supposed to do in accordance with the regulations but are being promoted without being fully qualified.
In January 2016, the Army expanded the standard for promotion across the board using the systemic program designed to enforce promotion standards called the S.T.E.P. (Select, Train, Educate, Promote) program. The S.T.E.P. program is designed to educate Soldiers before promoting them. Soldiers are selected based upon potential but once you are promoted, you are expected to have a specific amount of knowledge for that skill level. S.T.E.P ensures that this will happen.
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program is very beneficial to the overall growth and professional development of the Army. Before the S.T.E.P. program, we had leaders being promoted to the next rank without completing the Non Commissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) for that level of promotion. These schools are designed to promote the Army’s greatest leaders. How do we have Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, and Sergeants First Class failing NCOES after having been promoted to that next level? They were promoted without being evaluated by the Army standards. How can they train their soldiers to be ready for the next level when clearly they were not? This program has put a stop to just being promoted off of the point
The United States Army has been a leader in military prowess on the world stage since its inception in 1775, and with such a record, it is reasonably assumed that there must be solid foundation within the organization working to maintain the high level of performance. The Noncommissioned Officer Corps is one institution within the Army that serves as a large portion of this foundation that makes it the fighting force that it has always been, and the noncommissioned officers have been an integral piece since the very inception of the Army. The Prussian General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, organizer of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps, encapsulated this idea when he coined the noncommissioned officer (NCO) as the backbone of the Army. (Arms, 1991) In an Army that is continuously adjusting to world around it while maintaining its status as the military leader to all other nations, the Noncommissioned Officer Corps has always provided the platform for continuity through a growing rank system based on its original core, an evolving training program to develop effective leaders, and a creed that moves us forward while remembering the rich history of the corps that came before us.
As NCO’s we sometimes become complacent in our positions and our routines. Accepting challenges is what sets us apart and continues to ensure that we grow as Soldiers, Leaders, and Non-Commissioned Officers. The Sergeant Audie Murphy Club induction process is rigorous, and because of the rigorous amount of preparation that it takes to earn it, I will become a more knowledgeable NCO, while also allowing room to realize what my weaknesses are in order to improve in those areas. This learning and self-refining assessment will ultimately help me become a better NCO for my Soldiers. I aspire to become a member of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club for
In my military career, I have been to many localities, and met many great NCO’s to gain expertise, and wisdom from. My biggest challenge as an NCO has been my stretch as an AIT Platoon Sergeant in Fort Leonard Wood MO. Being an AIT PSG you have many tasks you have to complete, and many soldiers you have to manage. There are leadership challenges in every job, but as an AIT PSG all of the challenges can be tested within a small period of time. On a daily basis, you deal with anything from pay issues with behavior issues you will learn many things and test yourself always. When I arrived at E-CO 169th ENG BN it was to be the first day of many new experiences and challenges. On the day that I arrived to E-CO as an AIT PSG I was not quite qualified yet to run an
Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (U.S.) United States. Department of the Air Force, (2012a) Change management (LM06), Maxwell-Gunter Annex, AL: Department of the Air Force
...ers Date of Rank. The user can also laterally promote someone to a different rank but within the same grade. This function also provides two different reports that are used to determine if a Soldier is eligible for promotion to the next grade by attending a promotion board.
Staff Sergeant (SSGT) Louis Moeller shaped me into the Recon Marine I wanted to be and the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) that I am now. By embodying the Recon Creed and always setting the example, he made me want to be an NCO that my troops would look up to and want to follow. Even when not in charge he was constantly the one peers and junior Marines alike, turned to for guidance and inspiration. To this day, I still find myself asking “What would Louis do?” when confronted with a leadership dilemma.
All cadets can be found to be more responsible and dependable than most others. They have little area for horseplay and no room for negligence or error. Every “real world” op that Civil Air Patrol does can have a negative result if all parties are not giving it their full effort. Every operation that Civil Air Patrol does, whether it is training or not, has to be executed with discipline and ultimate control to receive the best outcome available.
We can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
As our forefathers before us stated, ‘‘No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of soldiers. As a Noncommissioned Officer, I realize that I am a member of a time honored corps, which is known as “The Backbone of the Army (“The NCO Creed writing by SFC Earle Brigham and Jimmie Jakes Sr”). These words to Noncommissioned Officer should inspire us to the fullest with pride, honor, and integrity. The NCO creed should mean much more than just words whenever we attend a NCO’s school. For most of us this is what our creed has become because we learn to narrate or recite. The military from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard has an overabundance of NCOs who fall under their pay grade of E-5, E-6 and etc. Yet somehow there still not enough leaders. I believe that the largest problem afflicting the military today is our lack of competent leaders, ineffective leader development, and how we influence our subordinates under us who are becoming leaders.
Webster’s dictionary defines the word profession as a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill. Many Soldiers would not consider the Army as a profession but a way of life. Some think the word profession belongs to everyday jobs like a plumber, mechanic, or doctor. Dr. Don M. Snider stated “the Army is a profession because of the expert work it produces, because the people in the Army develop themselves to be professionals, and because the Army certifies them as such” (Snider, D. M. 2008). In October 2010, the Secretary of the Army directed the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to lead an Army wide assessment of the state of the Army Profession. We have been at war as a Country for over a decade and the Army wanted to know how to shape the future of the Army as a profession and the effects the past decade had on our profession.
In the United States Army, there are two categories of rank structure, the enlisted corps and the commissioned corps. The enlisted corps within itself contains leaders, who are referred to as Noncommissioned Officers, or NCOs. These individuals, whose ranks range from Sergeant to Sergeant Major, are responsible implementing the guidance and command policies provided by the Commissioned Officers and commanders in their units. NCOs are also responsible for the welfare and training of junior personnel. The US Army provides regulations and manuals with step by step guidance for the most trivial of tasks, but it fails to spell out specific and concrete information on how to be an NCO. There are publications, such as “The Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer” and regulations on leadership, but they lack specificity and objective instruction for how to accomplish the aforementioned responsibilities of an NCO. The knowledge and skills of an NCO are instead acquired through training and experience, the products of which are NCOs of varying quality. A good NCO is one who knows and fulfills the written laws and regulations of Army doctrine, has the character of a good soldier and leader, and is able to strike a balance between written law and doing what is right even if the two seem to contradict one another.
Army Regulation 600-20, Paragraph 2-18b (3), Army Command Policy, states "NCOs are assistants to commanders in administering minor nonpunitive corrective actions." Note nonpunitive measures are not the same as nonjudicial punishment, which only may be directed by commanding officers.
First, there is respect, just because you have the rank and status of an officer doesn’t mean those below you in your command are going to respect you. A lot of people are going into the army as officers thinking everyone owes them something and that they have to do what they say. All I can say to that is, you’re in for a rude awakening. As officers we should respect those below us and talk to them as a leader should not a boss especially our NCOS and PSG. I believe that they are the best asset a young officer has at his disposal due to their knowledge and
...the AFP to maintain or to convince personnel with technical skills to stay in the service. PQF deals with package of competence, defining a particular function or job role, it covers the work activities required to undertake a particular job, and therefore it will address job skills mismatch. In addition, soldiers who choose to remain in the AFP will be having a high sense of nationalism and patriotism. In the AFP’s education and training system, this will enhance the competencies of trainers or instructors within the standard of the national education sector.
The two-month program is a physically intensive training that aims to mold participants into elite military fighters. According to Army statistics, only about forty percent of male soldiers who enter the program graduate.